Tag Archives: Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association

A Rockaway officer who gave his life rescuing fire victims in Brooklyn and two cops who stopped a hatchet-wielding attacker in Jamaica were among those saluted for bravery during the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association’s (PBA) Finest of the Finest award ceremony Thursday afternoon in Manhattan.

The PBA presented posthumous honors to the family of P.O. Dennis Guerra, a resident of Bayswater who died while attempting to make a rescue during an April 2014 arson fire at a Coney Island apartment house. Guerra’s partner, P.O. Rosa Rodriguez, accepted the award on his behalf.

“We are deeply saddened that Police Officer Dennis Guerra did not live to receive this honor in person but we are honored to have his family here today on his behalf,” said PBA President Patrick J. Lynch. “Those being honored today intervened in deadly crimes, saved the lives of adults and babies and put themselves in deadly situations to keep others safe.”

Police Officers Taylor Kraft and Peter Rivera of the 103rd Precinct were also recognized for stopping a lone-wolf terrorist who attacked fellow Police Officers Kenneth Healey and Joseph Meeker with a hatchet in Jamaica last October.

The four officers were posing for a photographer on Jamaica Avenue on the afternoon of Oct. 23, 2014, when the assailant — Zale Thompson, who was later found to have terrorist ties — approached the officers while carrying a hatchet. Thompson struck Healey in the head, causing critical injuries, and Meeker in the arm.

Kraft and Rivera drew their firearms and fired 11 shots, killing Thompson. Healey and Meeker, both of whom survived their injuries, will also be honored at the PBA event.

Other officers honored at the PBA ceremony on Thursday include the following:

P.O. Joseph Esposito of the 114th Precinct, who confronted a suicidal, shotgun-wielding murder suspect — Jack Calvello, 86 — who killed his daughter at their Astoria home in April 2014. Esposito fatally shot Calvello after the suspect pointed the weapon at officers and refused to drop it.

Police Officers William Neville and David Hudson of the 101st Precinct, who stopped a gun-toting criminal who pointed his weapon at officers during a pursuit inside a Rockaway apartment building.

The Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association (PBA) slapped the city with a lawsuit on Tuesday to challenge the profiling measure of the Community Safety Act.

The organization charges that the City Council overstepped its boundaries by passing Local Law 71, which allows individuals to more easily sue the city over discrimination, such as with some stop-and-frisk encounters. Racial profiling protection is preempted by New York State Criminal Procedure Law, the lawsuit said, and cannot be changed by local governing bodies.

“The language of so-called ‘biased policing law’ is unconstitutionally vague and will only serve to confuse police officers regarding its racial profiling provisions while hampering their ability to enforce the existing state laws that keep our city safe,” PBA president Patrick Lynch said.

The City Council passed the Community Safety Act on August 22, following a successful override vote of Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s veto. The legislation includes two laws aimed at shifting management and policies in the NYPD.

One of the laws will create an inspector general position to oversee the activities of the police department, while Local Law 71 will expand biased-based protection from ethnicity, religion and national origin to age, gender, sexual orientation and other categories.

The mayor’s office is also suing the city over the profiling legislation for attempting to alter State Criminal Procedure Law.

Joseph Concannon, a retired police captain from Bellerose, announced his run for City Council on August 8 — with the full support of several law enforcement groups, including the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association (PBA).

“I can assure you I will never risk the safety and security of one New York City citizen at any time at all,” Concannon said.

The PBA pledged in June to invest its full resources to target councilmembers, including Weprin, who voted in favor of the Community Safety Act. The union distributed anti-Weprin leaflets in Bayside in July.

“No councilmember who puts this city at risk will have a free ride in the next election,” PBA president Patrick Lynch said.

Two oversight bills in the act would create an inspector general to oversee the NYPD and allow individuals to sue the city in state court over the NYPD’s stop-and-frisk practices.

The PBA and Concannon said the bills would increase crime and handcuff police.

“I didn’t pick this fight. I didn’t ask for this challenge,” Concannon said. “I’m afraid that Mark Weprin and all the members have come to this with a very faint heart. They don’t understand the reach of this bill and what it will do to police officers we send out into the street.”

Concannon is planning to make the Reform Party line. He ran for State Senate as a Republican last year and lost to incumbent Tony Avella.

The New York City Council approved legislation that could make dramatic changes to the management of the NYPD.

Early this morning the Council passed the Community Safety Act, which contains two separate bills.

One will create an inspector general to oversee the activities of the police department and have subpoena power, while the other bill will make it easier for people to sue the NYPD over racial profiling.

“#Victory! Tonight, the @NYCCouncil passed the #CommunitySafetyAct by a veto-proof majority! This day is long overdue,” tweeted Brooklyn Councilmember Jumaane Williams, who drafted the legislation.

Supporters of the bill are celebrating the passage of the legislation, saying the NYPD abuses its stop-and-frisk policy, which allows officers to halt people and search them, and the surveillance of Muslims.

“This morning the Council took a major step towards reining in racial profiling in New York City,” NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous said. The Council acted to restore sanity and safety to the streets of New York City and the lives of hundreds and thousands of young people.”

Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association and others against the bill said that it will hamper the work of the officers and increase crime.

“Last year, there were a record-low number of murders and a record-low number of shootings in our city, and this year, we’re on pace to break both of those records,” Bloomberg said in a statement released earlier today. “Unfortunately, these dangerous pieces of legislation will only hurt police officers’ ability to protect New Yorkers and sustain this tremendous record of accomplishment.”

Bloomberg promised to veto the bills, but the City Council is expected to have enough votes to overturn the veto, according to reports.